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Do you have family and friends you wish you could spend more time with? In Heaven you’ll have unlimited time. I’m eager to spend time again with my childhood friend Jerry, who died years ago. I anticipate meeting him in Heaven and picking up right where we left off.

According to Scripture, animals praise God. They don’t worship as we do, but why should they? They’re not human. Their worship of God may be as intuitive as their other God-given instincts—which are different from ours, and in some cases superior.

Our ministry was sent this video from a ministry focused on giving clean water, rescuing children, providing mobile medical clinics, and planting churches. One of their donors, attorney Peter Manning, was deeply impacted by my book The Treasure Principle.

Once you’ve accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior, being ready to meet the Lord means living in a way that pleases Him so that whenever He calls you home—and knowing that could be any time—you can hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” 

By God’s grace, Nanci and I found we could give away my book royalties and a good portion of our discretionary income, yet still have breathing room for legitimate recreational spending (and what we kept still left us wealthy in comparison with most people in the world). 

In The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis paints a beautiful picture of the New Earth in the final book, The Last Battle. The book begins with a near collision of a railroad train, where the children are thrust into Narnia.

In 1988, I was on staff as a missions pastor at our church. Nanci and I sensed God’s leading to take our daughters, Karina and Angela, who were then nine and seven, and spend two months visiting our church’s missionary families in Egypt, Kenya, Greece, Austria, and England.

We can’t coast along in the Christian life just because we experienced victory in our younger decades. We must stay on guard, since Scripture’s command doesn’t come with an expiration date: “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18).

I believe when it is properly held, our love for animals reflects God’s own nature and affection. The problem is almost never with the object of our affection, but that we love it more than we love God. That’s when devotion to pets—or anything else—becomes idolatry.

“Live simply that others may simply live.” This well-known phrase challenges us to evaluate how we use the resources God has entrusted to us. But it’s important to recognize that simple living doesn’t automatically benefit anyone else.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. . . . Defend the rights of the poor and needy” (Proverbs 31:8–9 NIV). What people are more poor and needy, more incapable of speaking up for themselves, than unborn children?

This day—like every other day—belongs to God, not me. So, if God determines that I should spend time contending with the unexpected, that’s completely up to Him. He knows best. He’s the master, I’m His servant. I have trusted Him with my eternal life, and I will trust Him with my life today.

A week ago yesterday, I spoke at Passion City Church in Atlanta, Georgia, led by Louie Giglio, who has become a dear friend in recent years. I love this church, and the grace and truth of Jesus is so obviously at work in the people and leaders there.

It was a delight to share some animal stories in my new book All God’s Creatures, which will be released on November 17. One of my favorites—and in my opinion, one of the most remarkable—even has a connection to my home state of Oregon.